Interview: No Skips, No Pretenses—YAØ Breaks Down ‘Radio Geisha ,Pt.1’ at ‘Music Matters Live’
- Komal Gupta
- Sep 30
- 8 min read
Music Matters Live Singapore 2025 isn’t just happening—it’s alive in the heart of Clarke Quay. The waterfront has been glowing with voices from around the world, each performance carrying its own story, its own reason to be heard. Crowds gather shoulder to shoulder, some discovering new artists for the first time, others singing along to familiar choruses that feel like home.
Usually, this is where we’d tell you how YAØ looked on stage at Music Matters Live SG, how the crowd reacted, maybe even what song hit the loudest. But, honestly? That doesn’t tell you who he is. To know that, you have to hear him talk about Radio Geisha ,Pt.1—an album that feels more like a confession.
The Singaporean artist doesn’t ease into answers. Even before we finished asking about his album, he was already leaning forward, explaining why listeners should play it from start to finish, no skips. “If you want to know who I am, this is the album,” he says.
YAØ has been making music since 2018, blending R&B, city pop, and soul into something unmistakably his. Over the years, he’s quietly built a loyal following, racking up millions of streams and carving out his place as one of Singapore’s most exciting voices.
So yeah—before his set that night, we sat down with YAØ. No frills. Just talk. About his music, the pressure to perform, and why he made this album in the first place.
Q: How does it feel to perform at Music Matters Live this year?
YAØ: Excited. I'm just glad that I'm getting a chance to perform some of my album songs. I just put out an album, Radio Geisha ,Pt.1. So I'm just glad I'm able to perform again. I think I feel the most excited when I'm on stage. The adrenaline is coming, yeah.
Q: There will be a lot of listeners out there who might be listening to you for the very first time. If a first-time listener could only hear one song from tonight’s set, which would you choose?
YAØ: Oh, that's a good question. You got me thinking. I would say maybe “Hostage.” I know I wrote this song two years ago, but this song changed everything for me in terms of my outreach—my reach to people outside of Singapore. So when I put out “Hostage,” people from the U.S. were telling me, “Wow, it's dope.” From Taiwan, Hong Kong, everywhere. So I think that song is like an international song. I think it transcends all the countries. That's a song that I wish people would listen to. And I'm sure they will probably enjoy this song the most.
Q: Back in June, you released your full-length album Radio Geisha ,Pt. 1, a quite personal project that encapsulates the feeling of having to constantly “perform” for love and receive validation from others. What’s one thing you hope listeners would take away from this album?
YAØ: Oh, you guys did your work. I hope that people can listen to this album. First of all, they got to listen from the start to the end. There should be no skips. I think the album encapsulates who I am as an artist. I think if you really want to know who YAØ is, you should listen to this album. Because once you get this album, I'll just say first that people who listen to this album now and who are actually tuning in, I'll say that they are the OG. People who listen to this album, I think, I have a different respect for those people. But no shade to people who listen to my old stuff. I still love people who listen to the older catalogue, but I think because this is a much more mature project, and I feel like I'm more mature as a person, I think that this album is really more true to me and true to my soul.
Q: So is there going to be a part two?
YAØ: Oh, I mean, if there's part one, there's going to be part two. It's a no-brainer. At this point, I'm working on it. I have a part three, part four, part five [...it's] to be an ongoing thing. For the longest time, I was putting out music that I felt was just to please people. It was just something like, oh, another love song. People can just hear it on a radio, on a train, or whatnot. People don't really think too much about a song. So I think this album shifted things for me, [and] I really wanted the people to know what's my story. So everyone in our life has a story, right? Yeah. And I think it's only fair that you put yourself out there, your true self out there, whether it's good or bad. And I think that's my way of doing it. Just do this album, and people [either] like it or don’t. No hate. It's just you can listen to my old stuff, too. I think I'm always navigating through this landscape of people's love for me and my own self-love. So this album is a whole train ride. When you hear this album, it's like you're with me on this journey. Whether or not I would have the confidence to love myself…or would I still be chasing this constant need for love? I think, hopefully, I will find a conclusion.
Q: You often love blending genres like Japanese city pop and R&B into your work, accompanied by emotionally resonant lyrics. Songs like “Idolize” and “Entertainer” on your album are perfect examples of this. What were your inspirations for this particular project?
YAØ: These two songs are great choices. “Entertainer” was a song that I wrote almost two to three years back. I'm a fan of Michael Jackson, The Weeknd, and people who are legends in the music scene. So “Entertainer” was that kind of sound. I really wanted to make a song that had that vibe where it's just pure fun and stuff. But then, over time, as I was trying to form this album, I realized something. I didn't have enough songs that were really narrative-based. So I actually wrote, “Idolize” in the span of one day. I literally was thinking that I need to write something that really encapsulates this spirit of the album, which is all about idolizing people and seeing people as more than just artists. So I think “Idolize” was something that just came up naturally. It was just me trying to make this whole thing a proper narrative. It was actually like an interval song, meant to be a bridge from one song to another. [Though], it turned out to be a full-length song, [and] it became something that I'm really proud of. “Idolize” is one of my favorite songs from the album. Yeah, “Entertainer” is basically what it is, being an entertainer, trying to please people constantly as an artist, always having to have a front when you're performing. I think that stigma is something that every single artist faces. For me, I guess it's just a different way of the album. So the album is just a creation of all this.
Mido: Yeah. We really, really love the title of this album. Because it speaks volumes. And when you listen to this album, you will know it. You will actually get to know it.
YAØ: Yeah. It's like, once you're in it, you know exactly what's going on already, right? Yeah.
Q: What's your creative process like? How do you write songs? How does that happen for you?
YAØ: I think it changes over time. But the main process, I would say, is through a lot of experimentation. Sometimes I'll just not be doing anything. Just be on the bed, or I'm in the toilet, or I'm in the shower. I'll be very deep in thought because I'm the type of person who thinks a lot. When nothing is happening, I think a lot. And I think that's where most of my songs come from. So it could be either that, or sometimes I feel like I have to write a song. I feel like I can adapt pretty well, so I think that's something which also encapsulates the album, being someone who is always trying to adapt to everything, to please people. I think at the root of it all, I'm a people pleaser, [and…] that's reflective of what the album is, too. Yeah. So my process is also entangled with how I view myself.
Q: Your fans have been a significant part of your journey. What message would you like to share with them as you continue to grow and evolve as an artist and become more you?
YAØ: It sounds pretty cynical, but I think it's what’s right if I say this. I like the song in my album—one of the songs like “Idolize”—you know, I think that's something very dangerous. The thing about idolizing is that it's quite scary. You think you know someone until you don’t. The true colors always show when you know things get tough, and when times get tough. I would say always be open-minded, always learn about new things, and accept people as they are. Whether or not it's a new artist or whether it's someone that you've forgotten and you try to rekindle that kind of relationship again, just be open-minded and seek your own kind of truth and don't idolize things and don't think that it's absolute. Nothing is absolute in this life, in this world right now. So I think that's one message I would like to give people. I hope this makes sense because when people ask me, “Oh, what do you want to say to your fans?,” it's very pressurizing because I really want to tell them things that are right, but again, I'm not always right. Don't idolize too much and just have your own kind of thinking. That's what I want to tell my listeners: to have their own thing, have their own mind, and be their own person, and always be open-minded and accepting.
Q: What one song or artist have you been listening to over and over lately?
YAØ: I've been listening to The Weeknd a lot. I love The Weeknd. I think there's something so relatable about him. Like he just put out an album, and I think it's not received as well as his previous albums like After Hours and House Of Balloons, but I really respect him because he's trying something new every time. He's reinventing himself every time. He's never satisfied with the status quo in terms of art and creativeness. So I really look up to him, and a lot of the album work that I've been doing has been inspired by him, too.
Q: Any last message you want to leave to Mido readers?
YAØ: I would say keep supporting Mido Media. Keep supporting y'all. Always tell the truth and don't hide behind the facades of what you think you know might be the truth. Always be critical and try to look into your sources and stuff, and that's what Mido Media is doing, interviewing the best field artist in Singapore.
YAØ’s Radio Geisha ,Pt.1 is out, and honestly, it feels like the start of something much bigger. Stream it, feel it, and if you were at Music Matters Live, tell us—which track stuck with you? Drop your thoughts in the comments or slide into our DMs on Instagram or X!
Edited by Martina Yee
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